Solid fuel compositions, processes for preparing solid fuel, and combustion processes

ABSTRACT

Solid fuel compositions consisting essentially of wet processed biomass are provided. Processes for preparing solid fuel are provided that can include pelletizing wet-processed biomass material. Combustion processes are provided that can include initiating combustion of a pelletized wet processed biomass material. Energy generation processes are included that can include gasifying a biomass pellet.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure provides compositions and processes, and moreparticularly solid fuel compositions as well as solid fuel compositioncombustion processes.

BACKGROUND

Waste materials are generated everyday, if not every second, throughoutthe world. These waste materials stress our environment by overtaxinglandfills, polluting the oceans, and can even contribute to air qualityproblems when combusted inefficiently. As just one example, over twomillion tons of agricultural waste is generated within a five countyarea of the Tri-Cities within the State of Washington, USA. Heretofore,this waste has been traditionally landfilled or used as fertilizer orlow value cattle feed, but in any case, it has not been utilized asfuel.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Solid fuel compositions consisting essentially of wet-processed biomassare provided.

Processes for preparing solid fuel are provided that can includepelletizing wet-processed biomass material.

Combustion processes are provided that can include initiating combustionof a pelletized wet-processed biomass material.

Energy generation processes are included that can include gasifying abiomass pellet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below withreference to the following accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a process for preparing products from biomass.

FIG. 2 is a biomass waste material process according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a combustion process according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a pelletizing process according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a pellet stove combustion process according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a gasification process and gasification fuel utilizationprocess according to an embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure of the invention is submitted in furtherance of theconstitutional purposes of the U.S. Patent Laws “to promote” theprogress of science and useful arts” (Article 1, Section 8).

The present disclosure is described with reference to FIGS. 1-6. Solidfuel compositions are provided that include processed biomass. Theprocessed biomass can include wet-processed biomass, and/or theprocessed biomass can be at least partially spent biomass. Wet-processedbiomass is a type of processed biomass and is to be distinguished fromunprocessed biomass. Generally, biomass is harvested from the field ororchard, for example. Harvesting can include processing, for example, aswheat is harvested, kernels are removed from stalks. Further processingcan include pulverizing the kernels to flour. The production of flourfrom wheat can be considered dry biomass processing which is to bedistinguished from wet biomass processing.

Wet biomass processing is applied during the processing of biomass suchas mint, barley, hops, corn, soy beans, beets, grapes, and oranges, forexample. Referring to FIG. 1, a general depiction of a biomassprocessing scheme 10. In this general scheme, biomass 12 is processedaccording to process parameters 14 to produce a product 16 and wastematerials 18. Biomass 12 can be processed or unprocessed biomass.Process parameters 14 can include wet biomass processing parameters.Waste materials 18 can generally be spent wet-processed biomass, andproduct 16 can be considered wet-processed biomass product.

As an example of a process 10, biomass 12 can include mint which isprocessed according to wet process parameters after being cultivated toproduce a wet-processed mint oil product and a spent wet-processed mintslug. The processing of mint includes the mowing of the mint and thenthe blowing of the mint, after drying, into a tube. Pressurized steam isused to shoot through the tubes to vaporize the mint oil from the mintleaves. The oil vapors and steam pass through a line at the top of thetubes to water cooled condensers where they return to a liquid state ina separator. The mint oil rises to the top and is drawn into drums.

As another example of process 10, biomass 12 can be barley which is wetprocessed by fermentation to produce the wet-processed product silage.Barley is also malted by soaking barley kernels, allowing them togerminate, and then drying. The malted barley is then used to make anextract for beer production, leaving behind the spent wet-processedbarley wash.

As still another example, hops are typically utilized in the process ofmanufacturing beer. In this biomass process, the hops are boiled inwater to coagulate unstable proteins and extract tannins in order tocreate a stable medium for fermentation of the beer. Upon boiling, theliquid is removed to leave a spent wet-processed biomass comprisingspent hops.

Further wet processing of biomass can include the production ofvegetable oil. In accordance with these wet processes, the vegetablescan be husked, cleaned, crushed, and conditioned, according to dryprocesses and then oil extracted according to wet processes generallythrough the use of a solvent such as hexane. After the extraction andboiling, the liquid oil from the vegetables is skimmed, and theremaining spent wet-processed biomass is considered waste material. Twoparticularly important examples that are responsible for the majority ofvegetable oil production is the processing of corn and/or soybeans.During this process, the corn and/or soy oils that are produced can beused in the production of compositions such as biodiesel.

In accordance with another wet process, fruit is relieved of its juicein a process to produce a fruit juice wet-processed product and leavebehind a fruit pomace spent wet-processed waste material. The processingof grapes during wine or even juice production is an example of thesewet processes.

The wet-processed biomass material may be saturated or at leastpartially saturated with some kind of liquid solution, either organic oran aqueous solution. These materials have been considered high inmoisture content, making them undesirable as a fuel source.

Referring to FIG. 2, a process for preparing the solid fuel is referredto with respect to process 20 of FIG. 2. In accordance with an exampleembodiment, biomass materials 22 such as those described above can beprocessed utilizing processing apparatus 24 to produce solid fuel 26. Asan example, biomass materials 22 can be compacted to a density of atleast 20 lbs/ft³; 20-30 lbs/ft³; 40-45 lbs/ft³; or 20-50 lbs/ft³.Biomass materials 22 can, prior to being compacted, be combined and/ormixed with other biomass materials. As an example, wet-processed biomassmaterials may be combined with either dry-processed or even unprocessedbiomass materials, and this combination of materials can then becompacted to form a solid fuel.

Referring to FIG. 3, a combustion process 30 is depicted utilizingbiomass solid fuel 32. The combustion process can utilize a generalpellet stove and/or a gasifier, for example, to produce energy 36,leaving behind spent solid fuel 38. According to exemplary embodiments,combustion processing apparatus 34 can be utilized to initiatecombustion of a biomass solid fuel having a density of at least 20lbs/ft³; 20-30 lbs/ft³; 40-45 lbs/ft³; or 20-50 lbs/ft³ comprising wastebiomass material. The biomass solid fuel can be wet-processed biomass.In accordance with an example embodiment, combustion processingapparatus 34 can be configured to periodically provide additionalquantities of solid fuel to continue the combustion. The energy providedfrom the combustion can be in the form of heat and the heat can beutilized in numerous ways. For example, the heat can be utilized to drymaterials, warm the interior of a dwelling, and/or produce steam todrive turbines.

Referring to FIG. 4 a pelletizing process 40 is shown that includesbiomass waste materials 42 being pelletized to form biomass wastematerial pellets. The biomass waste material can be at least about 50%(wt/wt) wet-processed biomass, for example, spent wet-processed biomass.The balance of the biomass waste material can be unprocessed biomasssuch as straw or even dry-process biomass, such as spent dry-processedbiomass. Dry-processed biomass can also include the skins of thevegetables. For example, in the processing of soybeans, the actual skinof the soybean is removed to reveal the soy seed itself. The biomassmaterials can include extracted mint leaves, pomace, and mixtures ofmint leaves and straw materials, including corn stover, for example. Theprocessed biomass can also include animal waste such as cattle, chicken,or even hog manure. The processed biomass can also include digestedwaste such as sludge including water treatment sludge, for example. Asadditional ingredients to be utilized during process 40, glycerin and/orpaper mill sludge may be added to the wet-processed biomass prior topelletizing. Glycerin, a by product of biodiesel manufacturing, can beincorporated into the pellet in an amount of less than 10%.

According to exemplary embodiments, the processed biomass can include orbe mixed with barley, straw, wheat, rice, flax straw, and even cornstover. As an example, mint slug may be mixed with straw, wood cuttings,and/or switch grass to form the biomass waste material to be processed.Wood cuttings and mint slug may be combined up to a 50:50 ratio of woodcuttings to mint slug.

Processing apparatus 24 can include a pellet mill. Example pellet millsinclude but are not limited to California Pellet Mill Model 7726(available from California Pellet Mill Co., 1114 E. Wabash Avenue,Crawfordsville, Ind. 47933); Sprout Waldron Pellet Mill Model 501(available from Andritz, Inc., 10745 Westside Parkway, Alpharetta, Ga.30004); and Bliss Pioneer Pellet Mill Model B120A-141 (available fromBliss Industries, Inc., P.O. Box 910, Ponca City, Okla. 74602).

According to exemplary embodiments, biomass waste material 42 can beprovided to the pellet mill, and the pellet mill can compact the.biomass waste material to a density of at least 20 lbs/ft³; 20-30lbs/ft³; 40-45 lbs/ft³; or 20-50 lbs/ft³. The pellet can have a lengthlonger than its diameter. As an example, the pellet can define theperimeter of a circle in one cross section and this circle can have adiameter of less than ½ inch. As another example, any cross section ofthe pellet can be less than 1 inch in length. The pellets may beconfigured for use in residential pellet stoves. According to an exampleembodiment, processing apparatus 44 can be configured to prepare pelletsfor use in domestic pellet stoves.

Referring to FIG. 5, a pellet stove combustion process 50 is shown thatincludes the combustion of biomass waste materials pellets 52 utilizingpellet stove combustion apparatus 54 to produce energy 56. Biomass wastematerial pellets 52 can include solid fuel and/or biomass pellets, suchas the wet-processed biomass material fuel/pellets described herein.Apparatus 54 can be a domestic pellet stove, including but not limitedto that manufactured by Alladin, or Quadra-Fire manufactured by Hearth &Home Technologies. Energy 56 can be in the form of heat, for example.

Referring to FIG. 6, a gasification process 60 is shown that includesbiomass waster material pellets 62 being gasified using gasificationapparatus 64 to produce fuel 66 which is utilized to facilitate theprocessing of raw materials 68 according to process 70 to produceproduct 72. Pellets 62 can be those pellets described herein or anycommercial solid fuel pellet; however, embodiments of the processutilizing the Wet-processed biomass pellets described herein can beadvantageous. Examples of gasification apparatus 64 can include Centerfor Strategic Alliance—Model GX36-01 (available from Center forStrategic Alliance, 629 East Moulton Street, Hickman, Ky. 42050);Community Power Corp—Model BioMax 100 (available from Community PowerCorp., 8110 Shaffer Parkway, Suite 120, Littleton, Colo. 80127); andIntegrated Environmental Technologies Biomass Gasifer (available fromIntegrated Environmental Technologies, LLC, 1935 Butler Loop, Richland,Wash. 99354).

Fuel 66 produced upon gasification of pellets 62 is typically smallermolecular weight hydrogen compositions including carbon hydrogencompositions, such as diatomic hydrogen and or methane, for example. Incertain parlances, this can be referred to as partially gasified fuel orgasification processing fuel. This fuel can be provided for furthercombustion and utilized as the energy source for processing, accordingto processing apparatus 70, raw material 68 to produce product 72. Inaccordance with an example process, raw material 68 can be any rawmaterials that need to be processed, including agricultural ornonagricultural materials. Processing 70 can utilize the fuel provided66 in the processing of raw materials 68. For example, processing 70 maysimply utilize a heat source in the processing of raw material 68, andfuel 66 can provide the fuel for that heat source. In any event,processing 70 produces a product 72. As another example fuel 66 may beutilized to charge fuel cells.

Spent pellets of the gasification process include particles than can befurther utilized. The process of gasifying the pellets can produce acarbon waste product and this carbon waste product can be utilized as afiltration media, thereby resulting in a process that produces no wastematerial and is the efficient utilization of previously unutilized atleast partially spent or processed biomass.

Tying these processes together, a processed biomass such as materials 18described in FIG. 1 can be utilized to produce energy as disclosed inFIG. 3 as well as FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, and then this energy or fuel may beutilized to process other raw materials to produce a product 72.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural and methodical features.It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited tothe specific features shown and described, since the means hereindisclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms ormodifications within the proper scope of the appended claimsappropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine ofequivalents.

1. A solid fuel consisting essentially of wet-processed biomass, thesolid fuel having a density of at least 20 lbs/ft³.
 2. The solid fuel ofclaim 1 wherein the solid fuel is in the form of pellets.
 3. The solidfuel of claim 1 wherein the wet-processed biomass comprises extractedmint leaves.
 4. The solid fuel of claim 3 wherein the wet-processedbiomass comprises mint slug.
 5. The solid fuel of claim 1 wherein thewet-processed biomass comprises fruit pomace.
 6. The solid fuel of claim5 wherein the wet-processed biomass comprises grape pomace.
 7. The solidfuel of claim 1 wherein the wet-processed biomass comprises spent hops.8. The solid fuel of claim 1 wherein the wet-processed biomass comprisesbarley waste.
 9. The solid fuel of claim 1 wherein the wet-processedbiomass comprises beet tailings.
 10. The solid fuel of claim 1 furthercomprising less than or equal to about 50% (wt./wt.) unprocessedbiomass.
 11. The solid fuel of claim 10 wherein: the wet-processedbiomass comprises mint slug; and the unprocessed biomass comprises woodcuttings.
 12. The solid fuel of claim 10 wherein the unprocessed biomassis one or more of straw, stover, and vegetable husks.
 13. The solid fuelof claim 12 wherein the unprocessed biomass is straw and the straw isone or more of wheat, rice, and flax straw.
 14. The solid fuel of claim10 wherein the unprocessed biomass is switch grass.
 15. The solid fuelof claim 1 further comprising glycerin.
 16. The solid fuel of claim 1wherein the solid fuel is in the form of a pellet.
 17. The solid fuel ofclaim 16 wherein the pellet has a length longer than its diameter. 18.The solid fuel of claim 16 wherein the pellet has a circular crosssection less than about ½ inch in diameter.
 19. The solid fuel of claim16 wherein any cross section of the pellet is less than about 1 inch inlength.
 20. The solid fuel of claim 16 wherein the pellets areconfigured for use in residential pellet stoves.
 21. The solid fuel ofclaim 1 further comprising less than or equal to about 50% (wt./wt.)digestion waste.
 22. The solid fuel of claim 21 wherein the digestionwaste comprises sludge.
 23. The solid fuel of claim 22 wherein thesludge is sewage sludge.
 24. The solid fuel of claim 1 furthercomprising less than or equal to about 50% (wt./wt.) animal waste. 25.The solid fuel of claim 24 wherein the animal waste comprises cowmanure.
 26. A process for preparing solid fuel comprising pelletizingmaterial to produce a solid fuel pellet, the material comprising atleast 50% (wt./wt.) wet-processed biomass material.
 27. The process ofclaim 26 wherein the wet-processed biomass material is extracted soybeans.
 28. The process of claim 26 wherein the material furthercomprises unprocessed biomass material.
 29. The process of claim 28wherein the wet-processed biomass material comprises mint slug and theunprocessed biomass material comprises straw.
 30. The process of claim28 wherein a weight of the wet-processed biomass material is at leastequal to or greater than a weight of the unprocessed biomass material.31. The process of claim 26 further comprising storing the solid fuelpellet in a container.
 32. The process of claim 31 wherein the containeris configured for distribution of the solid fuel pellet for residentialuse.
 33. A combustion process comprising: initiating combustion of apelletized fuel, the pelletized fuel comprising a wet-processed biomassmaterial; and periodically providing additional quantities of the fuelto continue the combustion.
 34. The process of claim 33 wherein theproviding further comprises metering in an amount of solid fuel atpredetermined rates.
 35. The process of claim 33 further comprisingutilizing the heat from the combustion as an energy source.
 36. Theprocess of claim 33 wherein the combustion is initiated and continuedwithin a residential pellet stove.
 37. An energy generation processcomprising gasifying a biomass pellet.
 38. The process of claim 37wherein the biomass pellet comprises biomass slug.
 39. The process ofclaim 37 wherein the gasifying creates a carbon waste product.
 40. Theprocess of claim 39 wherein the carbon waste product is utilized asfiltration media.